This purple finch arrived just as the red buds of the crab apple tree were appearing. It was such a cheery sight. I will miss all the critters, some of whom have kept me entertained all winter...some newly arrived back. Each holds a special meaning for me.
I hope I don't miss my lilacs. It is one of my great pleasures to bury my nose in a big bunch. There is always a gentle tug on the heart strings whenever I depart on a journey. This year the tug seems a bit more than usual. I wonder what that might mean?
This little red squirrel is a daily visitor and he has to compete with Gaylord for seeds. He actually does pretty well on that score! Spring is in the air and all the creatures show a new found enthusiasm for life. This enthusiasm mirrors mine. This journey was long in coming but now it is here and I want to pay careful attention to the embarking...the setting off. It is often an overlooked part of a pilgrimage.
Imagine your departure as a metamorphosis...the first step is to slow down. The next one is to treat everything that comes your way as part of the sacred time that envelopes your pilgrimage.
The Art of Pilgrimage - Phil Cousineau
That is the nature of pilgrimage. The time in between these two crossings will be transformative in many ways. Which ways exactly, well, that is a story that is yet to be written.
A pilgrim travels differently. Always in a pilgrimage,
there is a change of mind and a change of heart.
- John O'Donohue
4 comments:
Me too!
Your quotes here are great words to live life by too! To see life itself as a pilgrimage. And these words from John O'Donohue seem fitting as you embark on this wonderful journey:
"A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier.....that cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up." (Very similar to the quote you posted too! :)
Wishing you a wonderful journey of Self-discovery, metahmorphosis and awakening... Blessings to you! And yes, will look forward to those insights along the way. :)
Thank you! It is very interesting that you use that particular O'Donohue quote because the passage that is from, in his beautiful book, To Bless the Space Between Us, is what motivated me to make this a Threshold Pilgrimage! I will be writing about it in June in a series of essays for the site Sacred Journeys. I'll be filling everyone in on this series later this month.
I love those words, change your mind, change your heart. It's really how we should approach each day, each moment.
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